Woody Harrelson earned an Academy Award nomination for "The People vs. Larry Flynt" and  starred in "Wag the Dog," "Natural Born Killers" and "The Thin Red Line." But when he's asked to name his favorite movie of those he's  been in, the answer is a surprise.

The picture is "Go Further," director Ron Mann's documentary of a 2001 bus/bike trip that Harrelson and a company of environmental activists took down the West Coast.

"It's the movie I'm most proud of that I've been a part of in my life," Harrelson said. "It's a really well-done film. It's a terrific movie that has a great message that's hysterically funny. You don't get that very often."

"Go Further" is playing at the Ross Media Arts Center, and Mann will be at the Ross tonight and Saturday to discuss the movie. Harrelson wanted to come to Lincoln as well but was prevented from doing so by his busy filming schedule. So he did his part by spending about 45 minutes talking about "Go Further," his environmental activism and his career on the telephone from Los Angeles last week.

The adventure that turned into "Go Further" started out as a bike ride planned by Harrelson and his brothers. Then it grew. First, Harrelson decided he could stop along the way and speak out on environmental issues, such as deforestation and the need for an organic lifestyle. That led to scheduling stops at colleges along the route and the name of the trip: the Simple Organic Living Tour.

To dramatize the point behind the trip, Harrelson found the "Mothership," a biofuel-powered bus brightly painted with murals that illustrate the ideas behind the organic life.

Then Mann, for whom Harrelson had narrated the pro-marijuana documentary "Grass," called and asked if he wanted the trip filmed.

"I'm not good with that kind of thing — the camera on all the time," Harrelson said. "But I thought it could be cool. That guy (Mann) is great. He's a real craftsman."

So Mann and his camera went along on the Mothership. But Harrelson still did his best to subvert the documentary process — or at least keep himself off the screen as much as possible.

"Every time they would come around with a camera, I'd look directly into it, so they couldn't use it," he said. "And when they'd come by and we were on the bikes, I'd try to grab it and the (sound) boom.

"It does make me uncomfortable. I find myself not acting natural. It's a lie. It's pretending the camera is not there, but, of course, it's there. You're acting for the camera. That's why all those reality shows are lies."

Because Harrelson was wary of the process, there was a need for a "star" for the documentary. That need was filled by Steve Clark, a production assistant and self-proclaimed junk food addict whom Harrelson met on the set of "Will & Grace." Not at all self-conscious before the cameras, the hilarious Clark goes through a lifestyle change during the trip.

"Honestly, I've had enough attention," Harrelson said. "I could do with less attention. The movie's about the message, and Steve's the guy who goes through the experience, which is what the people who see it get to see."

"Go Further" is never preachy. But it talks about environmental issues directly, whether it is the presence of blood and pus in milk, using paper that doesn't harm trees or using humor as a strategic weapon. Those issues are clearly important to Harrelson, and he's using his celebrity to spread the word as best he can about what he sees as an impending environmental crisis.

"I don't think people have a real perception of what is at stake," he said. "I only know because I really took time and studied it, like I was going to college. It's like the toilet's been flushed. Get ready for the downward swirl."

Speaking out on environmental and political issues has had an impact on Harrelson's career, primarily because it forced him to change his strategy regarding his public image.

"I knew the smart way to go is to get as little press as possible, to continue the mystery," Harrelson said. "It's what I would do as a smart move. But sometimes your passions outweigh your smarts."

Those passions even play a part in the roles Harrelson decides to take. But, he said, they're not the deciding factor in whether he chooses to do a movie.

"I don't like to do things that are totally adverse to my philosophy," he said. "But I don't feel like every movie has to have a message. I did ‘After the Sunset,' and it's just a fun ride."

"After the Sunset," a crime caper comedy starring Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek, marks a return to more prominent roles for the 43-year-old actor who got his break playing Woody, the dim, good-natured bartender on the NBC-TV hit "Cheers." He won a best supporting actor Emmy for his work on "Cheers" in 1989 and by 1992 had established himself as a movie star with a strong performance in "White Men Can't Jump."

Between 1993 and 1999, Harrelson made 15 movies, including Oliver Stone's controversial "Natural Born Killers"; the hilarious bowling movie "Kingpin"; "The People vs. Larry Flynt," for which he was nominated for best actor playing the pornographer and First Amendment crusader; the political satire "Wag the Dog"; and Terrance Malick's war drama "The Thin Red Line."

"I took five years off," he said. "I've done one thing in seven years, really. I wasn't appreciating what I had. I was real pissed about how things ended with the Larry Flynt movie. I'm a good worker and a hard worker. But I'm a world class vacationer."

That vacation ended more than a year ago when Harrelson began work on "After the Sunset," the first of four films in which he will soon appear. Still to come are:

• "The Big White," in which he plays Robin Williams' psychotic brother, a role he took over from James Woods after Woods had heart problems.
• "A Scanner Darkly," a movie by director Richard Linklater that stars Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr. and Winona Ryder that's done in the same style as the innovative "Waking Life."
• "The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio," in which he plays the husband of Julianne Moore and the father of 10 children, which finished shooting two weeks ago.

That run of films, all set for release next year, will thrust Harrelson back into the public eye, and he'll do what he's asked to promote the pictures.

But his heart is with "Go Further."

"It's kind of a little movie that could," Harrelson said. "‘After the Sunset' is opening on about 3,000 screens, and they're putting more money than I want to tell you into p&a (promotion and advertising). We're playing (‘Go Further') one theater at a time or in festivals, and we don't have a budget for p&a."

But when the movie is seen, Harrelson said, it has an impact. A Toronto film festival audience gave it a long standing ovation, and he's had people tell him they have changed their lives by doing things such as not eating dairy after seeing the picture.

"It seemed a bit self-conscious when I said it in the film, but if one person was affected by it, it was important," Harrelson said. "Between that trip itself and the effect of the movie on others, even if it was just a small thing, it was well worth it."

Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com.

Mann at Ross

Documentary director Ron Mann will be at the Ross Media Arts Center tonight and Saturday to discuss his films.

Here is the screening schedule:

Today

• "Comic Book Confidential," 5 p.m.
• "Poetry in Motion," 7 p.m. with Mann in person
• "Go Further," 9:30 p.m.

Saturday

• "Go Further," 1, 3, 7, 9:30 p.m.; Mann will attend the 7 p.m. screening
• "Twist," 5 p.m.